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Volume I : Issue 8
August 2012
Welcome to Common Ground News
In this issue:
Feature Article – Customer Spotlight: Medafor, Inc – Sales Territory Optimization; Proprietary Data
Tips & Techniques – helping you get the most out of our online mapping application at GeoMetrx: “Third Party Map Views”
Thematic Map – Health Insurance Industry: Insurance Ownership
Trivia Challenge – Heart Facts
Upcoming Events – GeoMetrx “How To” Webinar Series “Utilizing Your Own Data”
This and all our future newsletters are available through our Knowledge Center resource listed on our website. We encourage you to share our Common Ground News with your friends and colleagues and we welcome your feedback. Visit our website and make a comment on the contact us page or send us an email at info@geo-e.com.
—-Kent Hargesheimer,
Managing Partner
Geo-Legend
Phone: 1.888.848.4436
Web: www.geo-e.com
www.geometrx.com
www.geoprinter.com
Email:
info@geo-e.com
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Upcoming Events
GeoMetrx “How To” Webinar Series
“Utilizing Your
Own Data”
THURSDAY, August 23rd at 11am PST / 2pm EST
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Customer Spotlight:
Medafor, Inc. – Sales Territory Optimization; Proprietary Data
We would like to welcome our newest customer, Medafor, Inc., to our GeoMetrx family. Having been in business for more than a decade, Medafor is a rapidly growing medical technology company providing products to the major surgical hemostatic markets around the world including the United States, China and Japan. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the company has built itself from the ground up based on its expertise in hemostatic technology and has developed groundbreaking products that have met with resounding success in the surgical world.
Originally, the company’s products were focused on the OTC, Military and pre-hospital EMT markets, and then, in September 2006, Medafor received FDA approval for ARISTA®AH for use in surgical applications. ARISTA®AH is a sterile, absorbable hemostatic powder consisting of Microporous Polysaccharide Hemospheres (MPH®), Medafor’s patented blood clotting technology, derived from purified plant starch. Usage of the product begins clotting the blood on contact, accelerating the body’s natural processes. Hospitals will occasionally administer a bleeding time test prior to certain surgical procedures. If a patient is not suffering from a bleeding disorder, the test generally takes less than ten minutes. Ten minutes, however, is a long time to bleed on the operating table, which helps emphasize both the importance and the popularity of this breakthrough product in a surgical environment.
According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, “the United States market for surgical hemostats, internal tissue sealants and adhesion barriers will grow strongly, reaching a total of $1.7 billion by 2016. In particular, the market for combination surgical hemostats will grow at an average of nearly 15 percent per year.” Medafor is well-positioned in this market, and with its continued excellence, and focus on marketing and business strategy development, the company is expected to continue increasing its market share in this high growth industry.
Currently, Medafor has a growing team of over 120 independent sales representatives in the United States and an equally impressive distribution network around the world. By joining forces with GeoMetrx, Medafor has put our online application to use to optimize its sales territories. Optimizing sales territories creates many efficiencies including territory alignment, elimination of overlap, minimized travel time, balanced workload, increased productivity and much more.
Another valuable feature offered by GeoMetrx is the ability to upload and assimilate a company’s proprietary data. Medafor is taking full advantage of this opportunity as well and can now aggregate, compare, rank and map its own customer data, in addition to utilizing the many other strategic planning benefits of visualizing one’s own data.
Medafor team members, Neil Hauger, Shawn Perry, and Joe Schmitzer, recently traveled to Bend, Oregon to meet with GeoMetrx’s Rich Mithoff and Patrick O’Neill for a custom training session of our online mapping application. During their visit, they experienced the scenic beauty and charm of this small town that has become an international mecca for outdoor enthusiasts. They wrapped up their stay with a visit to one of Bend’s many microbreweries, 10 Barrel Brewing Company. Cheers and welcome to the family!
Tips & Techniques – Third Party Map Views
Our online mapping application at GeoMetrx offers third-party map views, providing you with additional features and functions provided by such services as Google Earth, Google Maps, Bing Maps and Yahoo Maps. Follow
the directions below next time you are viewing one of your territories!
And there you have it, the power of Google Earth combined with the power of GeoMetrx.
Health Insurance Industry: Insurance Ownership
The Health Insurance Industry continues to be a major topic of discussion in the U.S., particularly with the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obama Care”). Despite the challenges faced by this industry and the continued rocky road toward economic recovery, the industry is holding its own. According to S&P, the 2012 Outlook for this sector is stable, “…reflecting our belief that industry risk is moderating, business conditions have improved, and health insurers’ financial fundamentals are now relatively strong.”
Current ownership of medical, health and hospital insurance is displayed in the map below by percentage of the U.S. Adult Population (18+). Areas of the least coverage are shown in red, while those with the greatest coverage are shown in green.
Click to see a larger version of this map.
Health insurance coverage is only part of overall health care spending. Each month, the Altarum Institute releases its HealthCare Spending Brief. The most recent publication reveals the following findings based on data collected through June 2012:
• Hospital spending was $910 billion seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) and represented 32% of total health spending
• Physician and clinical services spending was $547 billion, remaining at 19% of total health spending
• Prescription drug spending was $281 billion, 10% of total health spending
• Nursing home and home health spending combined were $230 billion, 8% of total health spending.
• Spending on personal health care goods and services accounted for 84% of total health spending (other major components include public health, research, construction, and net cost of private insurance)
What do these figures mean? According to the Washington Post, health care spending in the last two years has been slow, much slower than in previous decades. Take a look at health care spending for June 2012 vs. June 2011, showing a continued decline in overall growth.
For more information on how to obtain access to GeoMetrx datasets, contact us today at 1.888.848.4436.
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August 2012 – Trivia Challenge
1) How many gallons of blood does the average heart pump each day?
Click here for the answers!